Meat & Bones
by FreyReh
Summary: Quinn Shepard awakens from a disturbing dream and Garrus is there to chase the demons away…


Note: My second attempt at a Mass Effect fic. Hope you all like it! :)

Title: Meat and Tubes  
Summary: Quinn Shepard awakens from a disturbing dream and Garrus is there to chase the demons away…

Rated: PG-13  
Genre: Angst/Drama/Romance  
Pairing: Shekarian

Dis: I don't own Mass Effect, all rights belong to Bioware.

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_"When I first saw you, you were nothing but meat and tubes. Anywhere else, they'd have put you in a coffin…"_

_Floating, she was floating. It was all white save for a metal slab and slowly she maneuvered to it, feeling like she was in zero gravity. Then, she looked down, curious. Tubes, all filled with what looked to be blood, were connected around what looked to be expired ground beef. The closer she got the more rank it smelled and before her eyes the beef looked to be stitching itself together: dull gray transforming to bright red. _

_"…meat and tubes…"_

_She reached out and as a fingertip touched a tube the glob of meat opened its eyes. Pure green eyes with a red pupil stared at her. HER eyes… It opened its mouth and screamed. _

_"…put you in a coffin…"_

_Suddenly. It was dark. She was trapped. Wooden panels surrounded her and she slammed against them with her hands and feet, screaming. _

_"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"_

_._

_._

_._

Gasping, Quinn Shepard reared up from her bed and immediately flew to the bathroom. She barely made it before the entire contents of her stomach emptied its way out of her. Retching into the toilet, tears collected in her eyes and fell. Flushing the toilet she fell to the cold floor, wiping her hand over her mouth before sobs overtook her.

"Shepard, I detect that you are in distress, should I page-"

"NO!" she barked at the A. I. named E.D.I. "Don't call anyone. Do you understand?"

A pause. "Yes, Shepard."

Wrapping her arms around her middle she pulled her legs up and the sobbing commenced. Her long, raven colored hair, normally up in a clean bun, stuck in sweaty globs to the back of her neck. Wiping at her eyes she saw that the mascara she had fallen asleep with on was now smearing and she knew she must look a sight.

The nightmares were getting worse and worse the closer she got to the goal of entering the Omega-4 relay. It had started with just the meat and tubes but the coffin? THAT had been new. She shivered now just thinking about it and suddenly she went from hot to cold and with the strength she could muster she pulled off her damp tank top and sleeping shorts and stepped into the shower, unaware that her omni-tool lay beeping beside her bed.

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'_Strange_,' thought Garrus, tapping his omni-tool. '_Shepard said she would meet me here ten minutes ago. She's NEVER late. I wonder what's keeping her?_'

Tapping his glove covered talons against his bent knee, Garrus turned his sharp blue gaze to the still closed elevator doors. They had made plans to have a late dinner and discuss a mission she wanted to take him and Krios on in Illium. Thane was sitting in the mess, saving a table for them and Garrus tapped more keys on his omni-tool, sending Krios the message that he was heading up to Shepard's cabin to see what was keeping her.

Garrus took the long elevator ride up to Shepard's Cabin. Seriously, with all the upgrades Cerberus put the Normandy SR2 through, the least they could have done was make the elevator faster. When he finally made it to the top floor he noticed that Shepard's door was locked so he tried ringing her in.

No answer.

"Shepard?" he called through the door before tapping the controls. The access code she provided him for emergencies didn't work. "E.D.I. is Shepard in there?"

A small ball of light lit up to his left. "Yes, Officer Vakarian. Commander Shepard has asked to remain undisturbed."

"She was supposed to meet with Krios and I for a briefing."

"She is indisposed."

"SHEPARD!" shouted Garrus through the door. "Damn it E.D.I. what's going on?"

A pause. "She's crying."

Garrus was taken aback. "W-What?"

"I cannot say more. Shepard has asked me not to-"

"Damn it you're an A.I. not a V.I. if you know she's in distress open the damn door!"

"I cannot."

"Don't make me hack this door," he growled, taking out his omni-tool and getting to work.

Garrus swore he heard the A.I. sigh before the door flashed green. "She's in the shower. The water is getting cold. She could get hypothermia. I deduce this as an emergency."

"Thanks E.D.I." he said, rushing in. He paused at the bathroom door when hearing the most gut-wrenching sobs he's ever heard a human make before and he steeled himself for what he was about to see before timidly entering the bathroom, the moisture in the air clouding up his visor. "Shepard?"

"G-Garrus?" A small hiccup. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Checking on you. We had a meeting, remember," he said, grabbing a towel before going to the shower. "So how about you come out of there and save some hot water for your crew?"

Silence and his mandibles fluttered and his mouth plates clicked with worry as he started twisting the towel nervously between his fingers. He sighed and mentally wishing he had grabbed Tali on the way up here he peeked into the shower. What he saw made his turian heart break in two. On the tiled floor sat Shepard. Pale, shivering, and looking as scared as a child. "Shepard!"

Ignoring the fact that the human female he'd been developing feelings for these past few weeks was naked he rushed forward to aid her. No, he still didn't find many human females attractive. Just her. Only her. From her black as night fringe to her soft and squishy skin to her laugh and smile and glare he was attracted to it all.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he turned off the water before draping the towel he had grabbed around her. Carefully he lifted her up from the floor, cradling her against him as he maneuvered to the bed. He set her wet form down and snaked an armor covered arm around her waist, working the towel over her wet hair, he reminded himself it was NOT called fringe then, and skin as quickly and efficiently as possible before lowering her down to her bed. He covered her up with her blankets, his face filled with worry. Knowing he would be here for a while he quickly tapped a message to Krios that the meeting was cancelled before sitting on the edge of her bed, gloved hand curling around her limp one.

"Quinn?" He brought up the fingers of his free hand and trailed them through her damp locks. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

Slowly her eyes, usually so expressive but now dull and empty, slid up to meet his. He made a sound of worry at the back of his throat as a single tear escaped her left eye and traveled down her cheek. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it before looking down at their joined hands.

"Meat and bones…"

"What?" he asked, barely catching her whispered answer.

She cleared her throat. "Meat and bones. Taylor said when they found me I was nothing but meat and bones. I… I've been having dreams. Nightmares. I see a pile of rotten meat and it… It's ME."

'_I'm going to fucking rip that idiots head off,_' thought Garrus darkly. _'WHY would he say something like that to her?'_

"It was so real, Garrus," she said, a shiver traveling through her. "I walked up to this table and it was a pile of rotten meat and it opened its eyes and it was MY eyes and it, I scream. Then I'm in a coffin and… and…"

Her breathing quickened and he kneeled down on the floor so that his eyes could be level with hers. Still holding her hand he brought it up to his mouth plates and pressed a kiss there. He'd been watching some vids Mordin sent him and this had been shown as a sign of comfort to humans and it seemed to work because her eyes didn't look so tense in the corners.

"Shepard. You're alive. You're YOU. When you think about it everyone is meat and bones, be it on my side I have a bit of scales, too."

Shepard chuckled darkly. "Somehow I can't see that THAT is what Taylor meant."

"Taylor is an idiot. Shepard, Quinn, you're alive. ALIVE. Okay? If you were truly meant to die you would have died."

"Some greater power decided I wasn't done, huh?" she asked, lips quirking.

"Sure," he said with a shrug, lowering her hand down to the mattress. "Uh, I hope it's ok that I cancelled that meeting for tonight. We can go over things in the morning. Seems like the job will be easy enough."

"When is it ever easy?" she asked with a smile, something Garrus was happy to see.

"With you? Never." His mandibles widened in a turian representation of a grin. "But that's why I like being with you, Shepard. Life is never dull, there's always a surprise around the corner."

"Sometimes," said Shepard softly. "I could go for dull."

Garrus chuckled, rising from his crouch. "Ok. Sure. But only sometimes. Once we get older and retire we have plenty of time to be dull then."

"Garrus?" she asked as he was ready to turn away. "Can you stay a little longer?"

"Sure," he said and his face registered surprise as she slid over on her bed and offered him a spot to lay. "Uh, Shepard, I'm not sure that-"

"Is it because I'm naked?" she asked with a grin.

"What? No! I mean…" He sighed. "I'm messing this up. I love the idea of being beside you like this, Shepard, but I just don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage."

"Just sleeping, Garrus." Shepard sat up, sheets against her chest. "So you're not scandalized turn around and I'll find some pajamas."

"That's not what I meant," he said, rolling his eyes but turning anyway to be a gentleman. He heard her shuffling around the room as his hands unlatched the pieces of his armor. "I just…" He sighed, fingers clenching his chestpiece tightly. "More than anything I want to be with you. As a man and woman… just… we're not ready for that yet. Are we?"

"We have time." Sounds of her getting back into bed had him turning, clad only in his under suit, placing his gloves atop his chestpiece on the floor before taking a spot on the bed with her. "Until then I just want you to sleep beside me. You make me feel safe, Garrus, but I also don't want you to feel like you're obligated. I'm not forcing you to stay."

"I want to be here," he insisted, adjusting his body to its side before wrapping an arm around Shepard. Eagerly she curled and molded against the front of his body and her warmth engulfed him. "Trust me."

"What would I do without you?" she asked softly as his clawed hands gently ran up and down her back, the fabric of her thin tank top catching against his claws at times.

"No idea. All I know is without you… I'd be dead." Her arms curled around him even tighter. "You saved me, Shepard. YOU."

"Not just a pile of meat and bones then, huh?" she asked with a shaky laugh.

"No." He frowned, once again mentally reminding himself to kick Taylor's ass. "Not just meat and bones."

"Goodnight, Garrus."

"Goonight, Quinn."

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END Reviews welcomed! :)


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